Backstage: Clips & Tricks
by HyperionX
Summary: So all of those supernatural elements actually didn't exist. They were just some incredible examples of special effects. But, that's not the focus here. Yukari Hirai, who only appeared for a short while, shares her frustrations to the group, as well as some unintended backstories. But despite that, those events shaped up to form one of the best things one could have.


**Hello! Let's just say the special episodes gave me some inspiration, as well as from other shows, and stories I've read here. I actually haven't finished watching the anime yet. I started watching it just two weeks ago, and I'm currently still in the beginning of Season 3. So if there's any mistake, even if this may not be connected to the story at all, I apologize in advance. Anyways, let's proceed!**

* * *

Another exhausting day has finally passed. The group of friends chose to go and stay in Yuji Sakai's house since it was the nearest house from their current location.

The group was watching a certain show on the television. On the couch were four people: Matake Ogata, Hayato Ike, Yuji Sakai, and Yukari Hirai. Shana, Kazumi Yoshida, and Fumina Konoe were in front sitting on the floor, with their backs leaning on the couch, or rather on some of the former four's legs. Eita Tanaka and Keisaki Satou were behind the couch, sitting on wooden chairs which were a little higher than the couch's backrest, allowing them to see the television with ease. As the show ended, they just all remained silent, unsure of how to react to that. That is until Yuji said, "That was a little… disappointing for a final episode." Everyone just nodded in agreement.

Yukari Hirai, who was sitting beside Yuji to his left, crossed her arms and slightly narrowed her eyes as she stared at the television. "You wanna know something that's worse?"

Yuji faced the girl with the pigtails. "What is it Yukari?"

"Having to show up in only two episodes, and the second one being a torture having to act like a girl who had no emotions."

"That's how a Torch is supposed to act. You had no other choice," the petite yet intimidating girl known as Shana said.

Yuji smiled nervously. "Ahh Shana, we're not on the set anymore."

Shana however, just looked at him, her eyes full of seriousness. "Is there a problem?"

The boy simply sweat dropped. "N-nothing. Anyways, I think Shana's right, Yukari. We can't really argue with what the writers… wrote."

A certain boy who was wearing glasses stood up from the couch. "Well, from what I read, your character does get revived in the end."

Yukari huffed. "Yeah, and I'll probably just appear in the credits, with my character getting blocked by the flowing text."

Yuji put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't feel so down about it Hirai-san, I mean you were still part of it, and we all got to meet each other. And look at us now, we've all become friends ever since," he reassured the girl, and showed his caring smile.

Yukari saw this and couldn't help but smile and blush lightly. "Thank you, Sakai-kun." Her character in the show was supposed to have a crush on the boy wearing glasses known as Ike, she actually did, but as time passed, she started to have a liking on Yuji. He has been supporting and helping her ever since the start, though the others also did, he was the one who was the kindest to her. She may even already have developed a crush on the boy. Maybe.

Ogata stood up from her spot on the couch. "Yeah, and it was pretty fun! And I still remember when Hirai-san had a hard time keeping her face straight for the scene," she snickered.

Yukari groaned. "That was because of you!" She pointed at the girl, and started chasing her around the room.

Ogata laughed as Yukari chased her around. "You can't catch me Hirai-san!"

The others simply smiled at the sight. It was fun to see those two acting like playful children.

Yoshida sighed. "It's really fun being a kid, you know?"

The girl with the blue-green hair beside her known as Fumina Konoe said, "It sure is. We didn't have anything to worry about back then."

"Except school." They all turned around to look at the one who said that, which was Tanaka. A short silence followed, then they all ended laughing. Except for Yukari, as she was still chasing the short-haired girl around the dining table.

After being nearly cornered, Ogata was able to find an opening, and ran past Yukari, who quickly turned around. The two ran back to the room where all their friends were, and Yukari suddenly tripped on a folded part of the rug in front of the couch. The three girls who were sitting in front of the couch screamed as they saw the girl with the pigtails about to hit them. And soon did she crash on to them. They all lied on the floor, with those stars circling above their head indicating they've been knocked out.

Yuji and Ike laughed nervously. "You girls alright?" Yuji asked. The two boys helped the girls up, back to their sitting positions. Eita and Satou got out of their seats and told the boys that they were gonna start to prepare dinner. Yeah, those two can actually cook; a hidden skill that isn't so hidden now.

Shana was curious. She could see the anger boiling up on Yukari's face. "What did Oga-chan do anyway to make you so angry?"

* * *

It was the scene where Yuji met up with the Torch of Yukari Hirai for the first time.

Yuji was about to catch up beside her. "Hirai-san! Hirai-san! Good morning!"

Because of her current role, Yukari purposely delayed her reaction, and turned to her right. "…Good morning," she said in a voice that lacked any emotion.

Before she even got to turn again to face forward, she noticed a bush, the one that helped decorate the outside of houses, that seemed to move, just some distance to the right of Yuji. Yukari didn't want to bother what that was as she had to focus on the current scene.

As soon as she faced forward, she heard the loud noise of a whistle, which really surprised her. She fell on her butt. _Where in the world did that come from?!_ Her question was answered when Ogata appeared to her left. She was hiding behind the fence of a house nearby. Yuji helped Yukari up. "Hirai-san, you okay?" She nodded in response.

A dark aura of doom surrounded Yukari and a vicious glare appeared on her face. "Ogata…" She slowly walked towards Ogata.

Yuji felt a lump in his throat and gulped. He smiled nervously. "H-hey Hirai-san, how about we take a break?" Yukari however, didn't respond, and continued walking slowly towards the girl.

That girl laughed nervously. "H-Hirai-san, w-wanna play volleyball?" That was the best excuse she could make up to delay the impending doom. She didn't really expect Yukari to get this angry at her prank.

One of Yukari's menacing glaring eye twitched, and she smiled mischievously. "How about we play volleyball… WITH YOUR HEAD!" She started running and chasing Ogata.

"AHHHHHHH!" Ogata quickly ran off. A little relief came over her, as she noticed that Yukari was running slower than her. However, she was confused when Yukari took off one of her pigtails. _Is she gonna throw that at me?!_ What she didn't expect was the long piece of thread that appeared from within the circular pink hair clip. Her eyes widened as she gasped.

Yukari swung the pink hair clip and threw the piece of thread to Ogata's feet, making her trip. The fallen girl was really scared as the girl with the pigtails slowly approached, her aura of darkness and that ominous glare could make someone cry. She took the thread away from Ogata's feet and put it back in her pink hair clip, but she made sure she couldn't run away by holding her arm with her right hand. She kneeled down beside Ogata, and whispered to her, "How about I drain your power of existence, so you can feel my pain of being a Torch?" She smiled mischievously at the girl.

Ogata sweat dropped and laughed nervously. "Practicing your acting skills, huh Hirai-san?" _Right?_ Yet for some reason, she was afraid of what she said. It all felt like she was really going to do it. But then, the show's effects felt so realistic.

Yukari curled up the fingers of her left hand to form a fist. She chuckled at how nervous the girl was. "I don't think so," her hand started to look like it was glowing light blue as she put it near Ogata's chest.

Ogata gasped as she looked down and saw the unreal sight. "W-what?! W-what is this?!" _Hirai-san's a… B-but it can't be!_

Yukari just looked straight at her fist as she was slowly draining the power of existence from the short-haired girl, with no hint of emotion on her face. "No one will ever remember you, your friends, your family, no one. Farewell."

Ogata couldn't believe what was happening right now. This isn't supposed to be real! "Y-Yukari, please…"

Yukari couldn't hold it anymore, and ended up laughing. The glow in her hand finally stopped.

The short-haired girl, from being terrified, now became confused. "What?"

Yukari was laughing too much that tears were forming in her eyes, and her sides were starting to hurt. After a few more seconds, she was able to recompose herself and wiped the tears of joy off her eyes. She uncurled her fist, and revealed the object inside to be her pink hair clip. "The light actually came from my hair clip," she smiled at Ogata.

The girl's eye twitched. She has just been counter-tricked by Yukari. "WHAT KIND OF HAIR CLIP IS THAT?!" _It has a rope inside of it, and it glows too?!_

Yukari giggled as she placed the pink circular hair clip back on her hair. "I bought it in some store in the city. They weren't that expensive, and it was really worth it."

Ogata sighed. "So that was all just to get back at me huh?"

Yukari laughed. "That's what you get for pranking me."

Ogata punched Hirai's shoulder lightly. "You really scared me! I thought you were really gonna do it!"

The girl with the awesome pig tails chuckled. "You actually believed me! Just don't do pranks when we're on the set, then I guess it'll be fine." _Especially during this scene._ She stood up, helping Ogata get up as well.

Ogata extended her right hand. "I guess we're even then?" _I have to admit, that was pretty good._

Yukari extended her right hand to shake the girl's hand. "Yup."

In the distance, they saw Yuji running towards them. "What happened?"

Ogata told Yuji, "Don't ever prank Hirai-san."

Yuji was left confused. "Huh?"

* * *

"So I guess it all backfired at me in the end." Ogata sighed.

"Umm Hirai-san, what made you so angry at Oga-chan in the first place? I mean it was a prank, but I think you overreacted a little," Yoshida said.

"Because we had to reshoot that scene multiple times," Yukari replied. Suddenly, a look of craziness fell on her face. "AND BECAUSE OF THOSE EVIL CONTACT LENSES!"

* * *

As soon as the scene was finished, Yukari couldn't help but to sigh in huge relief. "Finally! I can take these contact lenses off." She took off the colored contact lenses that gave her eyes a much darker purple shade for her role as a Torch. She rubbed her eyes a little, then turned to face the boy. "Hey Yuji how about we get something to drink?"

As soon as Yuji saw Yukari's eyes, he shouted in horror and shock. The bloodshot eyes of the girl really terrified him. It was mocking him, laughing at him at his obvious fear. _T-they're staring… into my soul… THE DENIZENS ARE REAL!_ Yuji suddenly fainted and collapsed to the ground.

Yukari just stood there, looking down at the boy. "Yuji?" She asked so casually.

* * *

"And I actually had to wear glasses after that. My eyesight went bad after we finished that episode," said Yukari. She rubbed her eyes a little, remembering the pain those contacts caused her. Then suddenly, she realized something. "Why did they even give me contact lenses that had an actual grade anyway? Wasn't there like a… fake one, like for props only?"

Now that made the whole group wonder. Yukari realized something. "Shana-chan's eyes also becomes a different color right? Shana-chan, how did you manage to wear those lenses without hurting your vision?"

Shana shivered. Those lenses also haunted her. Her eye twitched. "How sure are you… that my eyes were red in those scenes because of those contact lenses _all the time_?"

Yukari cringed as soon as she found the answer. "Oh…" _But Shana's eyes doesn't look all so bad now so I guess that's good._

Tanaka interrupted their little conversation when he entered the living room. "Hey, how about we have dinner?"

Yuji cleared his throat. "Tanaka's right. I think we've heard enough of Hirai-san's stories." He was really thankful that he didn't have to go through what Hirai did. But he still felt sorry for her.

Everyone went to the dining table, except for Yukari. She got up from the floor and went to her bag on the couch. She opened it and got her glasses. After all this time, her vision was still a little blurry, and it was actually the first time she was wearing it in front of her friends. Her vision wasn't that blurry, it was only so after that certain day, so she didn't really require to wear them now anymore, but she decided to as it still helped her see clearer.

Yuji noticed Yukari closing her bag. He was the last one to stand up before her. When she was done, she looked up, and Yuji saw her glasses. He was surprised. "Hirai-san?"

"What is it Sakai-kun?"

Yuji smiled. "Those glasses look pretty good on you."

Yukari blushed. "Thank you."

Yuji went to the dining table to catch up with the others, and Yukari followed too. She sat beside Yuji.

Satou really wanted to try out what he and Tanaka made for dinner, but before that, he smiled at the group of friends. "To one of the best shows ever, Shakugan no Shana!" He raised his hand in the air. Everyone else followed suit, shouting "Yeah!"

"And it's all thanks to everyone!"

After finishing dinner, a hopeful Shana asked, "What do we have for dessert?"

Yuji smirked. "The one and only… Melon bread!"

Shana's eyes were replaced with stars as her mouth watered at the sight of her favorite food. "Melon bread…"

As Shana tried to get her favorite food, Yuji raised his hand with the melon bread on it. "Yuji! Come on give it to me!" She kept trying to reach for it.

Yukari just watched the group eating dessert. It truly was a sight that made her happy. Just a few weeks ago, they haven't really known each other, and to see how become they've become so close in quite a short time was essentially a heartwarming event for her. Despite all those difficulties they faced, they helped each other. She adjusted her glasses. _These people have made this year much happier than it ever was before. To call them friends isn't enough…_ All of a sudden, she started tearing up, some of it staining her glasses.

Yuji noticed this, and because of that, Shana finally got her melon bread. "Hirai-san?" Everyone else soon noticed the cry of the girl. They were somehow confused as to why she's crying in a time like this.

"I-I just want to say thanks to every one of you. I'm glad I was able to be part of this. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to meet all you amazing people. The ones I could call… a family," she smiled.

They all gave her a comforting smile. Some had tears in their eyes because of the wonderful things she had just said.

Ogata said, "Group hug!" And so they did hug the girl who now wore glasses.

Yukari finally started eating her melon bread, all the while enjoying the company of who she now considered as a family.

* * *

 **I still find it difficult to imagine the kind of glasses Yukari would wear.**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading!**


End file.
